Decoding game apparatus



Jan- 14, 1964 M. M. WIr-:BE 3,117,789

nEcoDING GAME APPARATUS Filed May 7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Erg.

CUMPLATZ auf@ 2 Maffe/M h//se Jan. 14,` 1964 M. M. wlEBE A 3,117,789

DEcoDING GAME APPARATUS Filed May 7, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent n 3,117,789 DECODING GAME APPARATUS Muriel M. Wiebe, 601 S. Calumet Road, Chesterton, Ind. Filed May 7, 1958, Ser. No. 733,647 `3 Claims. (Cl. 273-130) v This invention relates `generally to a game, and more specifically to a decoding game including its accessories.

Although the .principles of the present invention may be included in various games, a particularly useful application is made when the principles are included in a game which Vincludes a game board that is provided with a set of playing pieces, together with other` accessories.

The present game may be played vbya variable number of players, for example two to four, all of which are pro-V vided with a coded statement. The object of the game is to decode the statement, and a player scores points for hisy ability to correctly decode the statement presented. Playing pieces areprovided to be arranged in the form of the coded statement and vothers are substituted therefor to represent the decoded statement during the course of play. Provision is also made to provide the players With clues which partially correctly decode portions of the coded statement, should the players require such assistance. Means are also provided to assist in the scoring and for the display of playing pieces not then in active use.

' Accordingly, it is an object of the instant invention t0 provide a decoding game.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide a novel set of playing pieces which may be used in a word game. A still further object of the instant invention is to provide a game accessory member whereby a coded statement and clues for its decoding are included.

Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide a. novel method for the playing of a word game.

' Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

In= the drawings: FIGURE 1 is a top view of a decoding game provided in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the playing pieces being omitted;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion Vof FIGURE 1; Y

' FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIGURE 1 with the playing piece tray removed;

FIGURE 4 is a further enlarged view of the structure of FIGURE 3, with a portion thereof removedv to reveal indicia thereon;

FIGURE 5 is a front and rear` perspective View of a representative playing piece comprising a part of this invention;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken alon line VI-VI of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 7 is aiperspective View of various scoring bars.

As shown in the drawings: y

The principles of this invention are particularly useful When embodied in a decoding game assembly such aS illustrated in FIGURE 1, generally indicated by the numeral 10. The game assembly includes a playing board 11, an accessory member 12 normally supported on the board 11, a playing piece tray 13 normally supported on the accessory member 12, a set of playing pieces of which the piece 14 shown in FIGURE 5 is representative, and

ice

a plurality of Yscoring underliner bars of which the bars 15-17 of FIGURE 7 are representative.

The board 11 includes line-type of indicia 18 to set oit a plurality of players zones 19 and a central zone 20.

Each of the players zones 19'includes further indicia which denes a series of aligned playing piece spaces 21, the instant zone 19 as shown in FIGURE-2 having three such series. For convenience, the individual series may be designated in any convenient manner, such as by numbers, and each of the spaces of a series may bey individually designated as by the numerals shown thereon. The number of spaces and the number of series provided for each player is not critical per se, a total of 72 spaces usually being adequate.

i A players zone 19 is provided for each of the players.

The centralzone 20 of FIGURE l receives and supports the accessory member 12. v

The accessory member 12 may be, and in this embodiment is, a reduced scale representation of the game board 11. However, in the portion corresponding to the players zone 19 of the game board, there is provided a zone 22 having indicia arranged in groups which display a coded statement. These indicia are arranged Von a series of aligned spaces corresponding in conliguration to the series 0f aligned playing piece spaces 21 of the game board 11.

In FIGURE 3, there isshown an enlarged representation of the zone 22, and wherein representative indicia display a coded statement.

In FIGURE 3, it will be noted that the number of spaces corresponds to the number of playing piece spaces of FIGUREZ. In thismanner, the indicia displaying the coded statement are provided for each player, whereby each can continually View the coded statement.

Referring to FIGURE 4, the zone 22 of FIGURES is shown still further enlarged. It will be noted that the identification of each of the series 21 from the game board may be reproduced on the accessory member 12, in this instance such being the numerals 1, 2, and 3. It be further noted that thek spaces on the accessory member 12 Whichdo not have indicia which represent a coded statement may be provided with numerals which correspond to the numerals or other indicia carried by each of the playing piece spaces 21 of the board 11. Thus these serve `to identify the spaces which do not have any indicia of coded statementgwhich may betermed blanks.

The accessory member 12 has -a central clue or decoding zone 23 which may correspond geometrically to the central zone 20 of the game board 11, In theclue zone 23, one or more clues to the decoding of the statement are provided by indicia suitably arranged, which may provide a partial or full decoding of the statement. Inthis, example, it is seen that the letter B in the coded statement has been used for the letterR in the decoded statement. C, and the letter T stands for the letter' S. Preferably, the member 12 also includes indicia which completely and correctly decode the coded statement. yIn order that only one of the clues in the clue zone may be ,revealed at a time, means 24, such -as la removable or liftable tab, are provided to cover each of the sets of indicia which provide clues. 'Ihis is best seen in FIGURE 3. Upon lifting of the tab means 24, the indicia are revealed as shown in FIGURE 4. 'In FIGURE l, the playing piece tray 13 is shown as disposed upon and resting 'on the clue zone 23 of the accessory member 12, and therefore applying a force to the several tabs 24 to hold them in place and to minimize the opportunityfor premature exposure of the indicia therebeneath; Y

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 6, the playing piece tray includes a stand 30 having a pivot pin 31 secured thereto and extending upwardly therefrom. 'Ihe tray 13 further Similarly, the letter Q stands for the. letter' tom 32 which is apertured torreceive the pin 31 and to rest on arspacer 33. If desired,.a reinforcing member Y, '34 suitably apertured to receive the pin 31 may also'be Q included asA shown.

Theupper bottomv member 35 is provided with a series of alternately directed creases vwhereby' portions thereof vare .angularly directed, as at 36 and 37. The upper bottom 35 is provided with slits which extend from the point- 38 to the points 39 for each of the'similarly situated alternate cre-ases.V A divider 40 is received within the alignedslits. As best seen in FIGURE 1, several dividers 40, in this instance 6, Vare containd in the tray 13 whereby a total Aof 28 compart, kments or articulations areV provided for receiving indi` p vidual playing pieces 14. A sidefmember 41.is alsov ineludedrat each ofthe sides'of thel tray1'3. Thus the tray 13 is rotatably supported, is compartmented, and has' Van angularly directed bottom in each of the compartments.v

The' playing pieces'14 also form a part of thev game V10.` The pieces may be'made in any convenient form, :suchV asV of composition board, plastic, heavy paper, andthe like and are each provided with indicia which represent the Vvarious Yindividu/al Vletters of the alphabet.

Y I Preferably, each of the playing pieces 14k is so dimensioned that it' fhas the same size as the playing piece spaces 21 of the n zone 19, remotely from the accessory member 12, the

numbered playing piecespaceson- FIGURE 4 represent' ing the playing piece spaces on 'FIGURE 2 which are left blank.

'The various playing pieces which are not placed on the game board may be placed on the playing piece tray for future use. y

Each of the players then studies the indicia representing the coded statement, either on the member 12 or as indicated lbythev arranged playing pieces 14 to determine what substitutions he can rnake.r These are made based upon his own ability to reason. For example, aV single letterword is obviously the letter A or kI. The letter which followsV an apostrophe is likely to be the letter S or T. Double letters also Vserve as clues, particularlyV in conjunction with otherY known letters.

The play continues in turn in accordance with' such rules of play asv may be established. As a statement is decoded, the playing-'pieces which arel decoded arereturned to the playing piece tray, and others selected therefrom to take their'place on the playing piece spaces 21. .Y Y Y Y YFrom time to time, players will be able to proceed rio further. At such* points, and under such conditions as Ithe rules may establish, the tray 13 may be moved so that one of the tabs 24 can be removed or lifted so as to exposefat will the clue indicia thereunder.v The players being provided with this additional information con'- tinue'to play in` accordance with the rules. v

To score the game, credit may be given to the player who first correctly decodes a word', group of words, or the entire statement. -Pen'alties may be imposed `for mistakes. VProgressively less credit may be awarded a player for correct decoding as an increasing numberV of clues have been exposed. The credit for a correctly decoded word may also beweighted` forY the size of the word.

Obviously, each4 player will beV a'ble" to' observe what the other player is doing-'and lwill be able to adoptY his word 'arrangement if he soV desires. To simplify record keeping and scoring, I have provided'l the scoring bars,

fs'chas 15-17 of FIG-URE 7 for indicating groupsV of indicia which haveI been decoded-,- and which may be Y 'I and JYV 4 4 Y disposed adjacent to the playing pieces of a` player who is entitled to a premium score, such Vas due a playerwho rst suggests the correct decoding or translation. Thus,

the scoring bars preferably have a length which is equal toy a multiple of the width of the playing pieces 14. d

Of course, variousV colorsV of bars or playing pieces may be utilized as a further aid in scoring. Y n n' yIt is apparent that the set of playing pieces 14 must include a relatively large number of playing pieces which severally have indicia representing each ofthe individual alphabet'letters thereon. llt is also apparent that more playing pieces will be needed with certainindicia than with other's,partic`ularlyY the vowels. -ln order not to excessively 'duplicate the number of playing pieces need-v ed, I have provided indicia on both sides of the playingV piece, such as shown in FIGURE l5. However, during the use of the playing pieces 114, it is desirableV to know the letter whichis on the reverse side of the piece withoutfY Therefore, for most of the pl-aying pieces turniny it over. Vand including all ofthe consonants, the letter which has been provided on the reverse or other/side represents the nextV alphabetically succeeding letter. In this way, a player may view a playing piece and know that the letter s on the other side is always the next succeeding or preceding letter in the alphabet. 'For example if a Aplayer sees the letter N he knows that theV letter on the other side is either M yor O. For this purpose, the letter A isv considered to precede the let-terrBY and to follow the letter Z. f f

While certain of the playing pieces yhave been provided with indicia indicating letters as described, additional playing pieces have been provided which duplicate theA vowel letters.` On the reverse sidel of these Vadditional vowel playing pieces, I have provided indicia which represcntrpiunctuation marks. f Y

The following table represents a distribution of playing pieces which I have found to be ordinari/ly adequate:

L4, v l' Insofar as the scoring underliner bars are concerned, I have rfound that it -is unnecessary to provide bars having a length representing an odd multiple of .the width of a playing piece 114. This is so because there is no hann if a blank space adjacent -to 2a word is underlined. Thus, I have found that eight underliner bars 1'7 for two playing pie-ces, eight underl-iner bars 16 ffor four playing pieces, and six underliner bars for six playing pieces suces.

It is tobe understood that the accessory member 12 may be provided with a second cod-ed statement zone 22 and a second clue zone 23 on its reverse side. It is also to be understood that a number of accessory members 12 may be provided `for each game assembly, and that such accessory members may be separately provided and made available to the possessors of such giame assemblies.

v Although various minor modications might be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I Wish -to embody Within `the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such embodiments `as reasonably and properly come Within the sco-pe of my contribution to the art.

I claim as rny invention:

1. A decoding game for a number of players including i in combination: a rst member having Xedly-carried rst indicia arranged in groups openly displaying at least one coded statement; said first member having additional indicia arrang-ed directly thereon remotely vfrom said irst indicia to provide at least a partial decoding of said first indicia; la selectively liftable member secured to said first member ttor continual use and normally covering said additiond indicia to keep them normally unexposed to view; -a playing-piece tray having a base normally supported byv said liftable member and applying a force thereaga-inst to ensure that s-aidadditional indicia remain unenposed to view; a set of playing pieces severally supported by said tray, and each of a size somewhat larger than said lirst indicia, which pieces are severally provided with corresponding indicia of somewhat langer size than said iirst indicia, and a number of which may be freely arranged only remotely from said first indicia, without obscuring the same to reproduce said groups of first indicia, said playing pieces Ibeing individually rearrangeable at will; and a set of identifying and scoring underliner bars having lengths substantially corresponding to the lengths of said groups of indicia and which bars are adapted to be severally disposed adjacent to s'elected groups of said set of playing pieces.

2. A decoding `game for a number of players, comprising:

(a) a member;

(b) rst indicia lixedly carri-ed on said member and disposed in several closely arranged groups openly and jointly comprising and ldisplaying a coded puzzle;

(c) a set of rectangular playing pieces of a uniform width, each of which is somewhat larger than said lirst indicia, which playing pieces are severally provided with corresponding indicia of somewhat larger size than said rst indicia, said pieces being individually freely arrangeaible in straight laterally abutting elongated groups, only remotely from said first indicia Without obscuring said first indicia, for reproducing said groups of tirst indicia; and

(d) a set of scoring and identifying bars of uniform transverse cross-section and of various lengths, each of said Ebars having a length which is longer than `and which is also substantially an integral multiple of said playing-piece wid-th, whereby said bars may severally be disposed adjacent to and coextensively with all the playing pieces of selected groups of said playing pieces.

3. A game as claimed in claim 2 where all the lengths of said bars are even multiples of said playing-piece width.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,805,069 Bonari et al Sept.V 3, 1957 

1. A DECODING GAME FOR A NUMBER OF PLAYERS INCLUDING IN COMBINATION; A FIRST MEMBER HAVING FIXEDLY-CARRIED FIRST INDICIA ARRANGED IN GROUPS OPENLY DISPLAYING AT LEAST ONE CODED STATEMENT; SAID FIRST MEMBER HAVING ADDITIONAL INDICIA ARRANGED DIRECTLY THEREON REMOTELY FROM SAID FIRST INDICIA TO PROVIDE AT LEAST A PARTIAL DECODING OF SAID FIRST INDICIA; A SELECTIVELY LIFTABLE MEMBER SECURED TO SAID FIRST MEMBER FOR CONTINUAL USE AND NORMALLY COVERING SAID ADDITIONAL INDICIA TO KEEP THEM NORMALLY UNEXPOSED TO VIEW; A PLAYING-PIECE TRAY HAVING A BASE NORMALLY SUPPORTED BY SAID LIFTABLE MEMBER AND APPLYING A FORCE THEREAGAINST TO ENSURE THAT SAID ADDITIONAL INDICIA REMAIN UNEXPOSED TO VIEW; A SET OF PLAYING PIECES SEVERALLY SUPPORTED BY SAID TRAY, AND EACH OF A SIZE SOMEWHAT LARGER THAN SAID FIRST INDICIA, WHICH PIECES ARE SEVERALLY PRO- 